A variety of materials are known to fluoresce or glow under the presence of ultraviolet or black light. These include, but are not limited to, bodily fluids such as blood, urine and semen, as well as petroleum jelly, tonic water, vitamins, chlorophyll, antifreeze, laundry detergent, liquid cleaners, tooth whiteners, etc. In addition, other materials are capable of being revealed under light that is other than white light. In the field of forensics, for example, it is well known to use a black light at a crime scene to detect semen, blood and other materials. In a household, for example, it is popular to use black light to detect pet stains, for it is well known that many pet owners experience problems and difficulty when attempting to identify, detect, and remove pet urine and fecal matter from surface areas.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, about 63 percent of all households in the United States have a pet. As of 2011, about 75 million dogs and about 85 million cats are owned in the United States (Source: Pet Food Institute). Many of these pets live inside the house with the pet owner. While pets are ideally trained to urinate or defecate either outdoors or in a specific area such as a litter box, not all pets are housebroken in such a manner. Furthermore, pets sometimes do make mistakes and/or get sick such that they eliminate indoors on a non-desirable surface area such as on a fancy rug, on a carpet, or on a wood floor. If untreated, the pet urine and fecal matter may result in a permanent stain on the flooring material. It is well known that pet urine and fecal matter and their related odors are not wanted. Furthermore, such pet odors may be embarrassing to the home owner.
Current methods for removing pet stains from surface areas include commercially available products such as “Urine Gone!” and “Urine-Off” odor and stain removers. Each of these products appears to include a spray bottle containing a cleaning solution with certain enzymes to react with the pet stain, and a separate source of black light (e.g. a separate flashlight) which allegedly detects and identifies the stains to be removed.
One problem with the method of using a spray bottle and a black light flashlight is that the bottle and the flashlight are two distinct units which can easily be separated from each other. For example, it is not difficult to imagine a homeowner who places the flashlight in a different location from the spray bottle. In the event that the flashlight becomes lost or misplaced, the homeowner will have to estimate the specific location of the pet stain without the use of the flashlight, thereby defeating its purpose.
Another problem with having the bottle and the flashlight as two distinct units occurs when a pet owner uses the flashlight to locate the pet stain but fails to apply a marker on the surface area to be cleaned to pinpoint the exact location of the stain. When the pet owner retrieves the spray bottle to apply the cleaning enzyme to the stain, the pet owner may lose the specific location of the stain, thereby forcing a repeat of the process of locating the pet stain.
Furthermore, a separate hand is required to operate each of the black light flashlight and the spray bottle. This can make it awkward and clumsy to clean up a pet mess and to remove the pet stain because a third hand is needed to carry a cloth or paper towel that is required to wipe off and absorb the solution and the mess.
In addition, in case a non-black light (e.g. a white light) is needed in the process of detecting and removing the pet mess stain, the prior art needs to rely on an additional, separate, second light source.